Responding to the King

Well as we continue our work through the gospel of Matthew in the opening chapters

Where Matthew has been laying this foundation for all that will follow throughout the entirety of the book

We have seen that one of the things that Matthew has been very diligent in doing is

That he's not just Recording events for us. He's not just keeping a record.

It's not it's not a history book What he's doing is is as he lays this foundation the first thing that he does is that he?

Establishes the identity of Christ, and it's important that we understand that he goes through these efforts to ensure that this

Identity is clearly established that it's not just One and done laid out there

He makes a statement defines for us who Christ is and moves on what we see is is

That although that's how he begins. He gives us basically a thesis statement in the very first Verse that Jesus is the son of David the son of Abraham the the fulfillment of these covenant promises this promised

Messiah King that would come He doesn't just say this is who he is and then and then just say okay

And he was born and he he lived a great life, and and let's get to the miracles he takes great care and great effort to establish this identity so that as the people

Hear and read these words as we hear and read these words even now all these years later

We get not just something that satisfies curiosity But something that demonstrates the faithfulness of God and so we talked about how

God preserved this line through all through all of the things that had occurred through sin through exile through judgment

Through the diminishing of the line itself where we see the kingly bloodline go from David to Who was a king and returns down to now a carpenter from?

Nazareth in Galilee and so We see that God had said that this

King would arrive and Matthew now Demonstrates for us that in fact in the fullness of time

Not a moment before and not a moment too late the

King Arrives he did that by showing us the lineage but then he also shows us the the miracle of the virgin birth that that the child conceived that this this

King that was born was not of man in the sense that He was not just another heir in the line that this was

Emmanuel God with us conceived of the Holy Spirit Separated from Adam's line on the father's side so that the sin of Adam's line that the sinful nature that we all inherit ceases and The King has come

But he came as we saw last week in humility

We didn't see courtiers announcing and proclaiming his birth.

We didn't see Earthly splendor Surrounding we didn't see a 12 -day parade. We didn't see this big open event what we saw was something that occurred

The ones that were even notified Were simple shepherds in a flock

Tending their flock in a field at night and now as we move from chapter 1 into chapter 2

We move from this King arriving to this

King being recognized Matthew has answered the question of the identity

Now he turns to another question The question he turns to is one that says now that we have the identity established

How will you respond to this person? How will you respond to this

Christ? how will you respond to God with us and Matthew gives us an example.

He gives us this event that occurs in early days of Christ's life

That demonstrate us three responses That are the way people respond to Christ They were then they are now and They will be in the future

We will see that some hated him. We'll see that some ignored him

And then we will see that others Worshipped him we see

Christ for who he is when we when we acknowledge and we are confronted with the truth of who

Christ is our heart Will not remain neutral you see that's the problem in this world we think

That we can breeze through life in this place of neutrality But the reality is as we aren't neutral We with enmity because of our nature or at War with God and so as this happens

What happens is these false pieces that we have these Empty professions that we have these false

Kings false idols false gods that we've raised up or disturbed and When something is disturbed in our life we feel it

And it causes us anxiety and it causes us stress, and it causes us discomfort

And so what we see here is that this is the same effect again some will oppose him

Just like those who hate him Some will remain indifferent

Which again is those who? ignore him But those whose hearts are opened by grace will bow before him and So if you will let's turn in Matthew's gospel to the second chapter

We'll begin reading in the first verse. We'll read down through the 12th verse and As you find your place,

I would ask that you join me in standing in reverence for the reading of God's holy inerrant infallible authoritative sufficient complete and certain word

Beginning in Matthew chapter 2 in the first verse we read these words

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king behold

Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying Where is he?

Who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him and when

Herod the king heard this he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him in Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people he was inquiring of them where the

Christ was to be born and they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea for this is what the has been written by the prophet and You Bethlehem land of Judah are by no means least among the leaders of Judah For out of you shall come forth a leader

Who will shepherd my people Israel? Then Herod secretly called the

Magi and carefully determined from them the time that the star appeared

And he sent them to Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the child for when you have found him report to me

So that I too may come and worship him Now after hearing the king they went on their way and behold the star which they had seen in the east was going on before them

Until it came and stood over the place where the child was And when they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy and After coming into the house.

They saw the child with Mary his mother and they fell to the ground and worshipped him

Then opening their treasures They presented him gifts of gold of Frankincense and the myrrh

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod The Magi departed for their own country by another way our father our most holy and heavenly father

We thank you for your word Or we ask now that as This word is open before us that that your spirit

Would again move in our hearts that we would be guarded from hardness from indifference from unbelief

That our eyes would be open to see the glory of Christ that our minds would be clear to hear and understand the truth that our hearts

Would gladly bow before him father may we not merely hear this passage

But be searched by it we pray that you show us our

King and Grant that our response to him would be humble faith and joyful worship

We ask all of this in the precious name of Jesus Christ Amen you may be seated so as we open up this text

Matthew immediately drops us in front of us something

Extraordinary now we have all grown up Predominantly if you've been in church any amount of time or you've been exposed to Much Christmas stuff at all you you have been exposed to the

Christmas story and in modern times and we we have taken the

Magi, and we have Enveloped them into the Christmas story and kind of made them part of the manger scene

But what we see in history is not exactly that same thing but one of the things that we lose in in the way in which we approach the fact that they were at or Visited is that we miss who these men were now

Tradition has taught us often that these were kings in fact

We even have a song that we sing we three kings of orient are Right we sing that a lot of times at Christmas and and but these men were not kings

These men were scholars More importantly these men were Gentile scholars these were not

Jewish men these were not people raised On a Jewish tradition these were not people who had spent their entire life being taught

From the Old Testament they didn't they if they had ever read the law and the prophets and it's it's possible that they had

They had not been given it the way that the Jewish people had and so these

People were of a distant land they were students of the stars they were men who studied wisdom and counsel and and they inquired in all types of religious activity

Today we would not see these men the way that we see Them often when we talk about them at Christmas time.

We would see these as people who who were outside of that looking at everything and truly being those who were seekers of Information, but also those who would welcome any information but what we see is

That regardless of whatever errors may have been mingled in their background regardless of how they got where they were and and how we we see

God met them where they were at and Then brought them to Christ Notice it says

And this is a statement. We've all heard we've all talked about at Christmastime We know that the line of the wise men as they had come to Herod is

Where is Jesus we saw his star we followed it here Do we allow the truth that the star appeared to remind us?

That God is moving That God moves first Do we understand that that also tracks with everything else we see in Scripture that that it is

God who moves in salvation first It's not us These men

Studied these men salt these men did all of these things But had

God not put the star in the sky The men would not have come

To Christ they they didn't manufacture their way there

God Summoned them he confronted them. He gave them a light to lead them forward and we see grace already working in The fact that these men are seeking the

King Now I want you to notice They did not say to Herod when they arrived.

Where is he who will become King? They said where is he who was born?

King there's a big difference in that language

You see becoming King is one thing you you may become a king by triumph

You may become a king by achievement. You may become a king by conquering

But what they acknowledge and what we see demonstrated for us and what we have already seen in chapter 1 is

Christ is King not because of any of those Reasons he is

King because he has the right to be King He began in 1 1

Jesus presented to us Matthew presented Jesus to us as the son of David We saw that behind this royal language in Matthew 1 1 stands the covenant promise of 2nd

Samuel chapter 7 God pledged to David that one of his descendants would sit upon the throne forever

We see that behind this stands Psalm chapter 2 where the Lord declares

I have installed my King upon Zion my holy mountain We see behind this

Isaiah chapter 9 identifying again for us the Prophet declaring that the government will rest upon the shoulders of the child who is born and There would be no increase.

No, no no end to the increase of his government and That there would be peace

So when they ask Herod for the one for the child who was born

King of the Jews They actually were speaking better than they truly knew

Because you see they came looking for the one who was born King of the Jews What they found?

Was the one who was born? King of Kings The one who a few minutes ago we referred to in Psalm 72 as we open our service

When we said may all Kings bow down before him all nations serve him him being

Christ John Calvin reflecting on this scene Teaches us that God revealed

Christ to the Gentiles in order to show that his grace would not be confined to one nation

Remember the first week we talked about the beginning of Matthew in the end of Matthew and we talked about how

Matthew transitions he takes us from his King born King of the Jews and Into this

King who is truly King of all Kings and King of all people and he demonstrates for us as the son of Abraham That Christ truly was the

Lord of all And so Matthew is preparing us still for that that moment that we will where the risen

Christ will claim all Authority in heaven and on earth and that he will send his disciples

Into the nations to disciple those nations to teach them all the things that he had commanded them

To baptize them in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit and promising to be with us always

Matthew Works on this. It's not like he says He leads us all the way to Matthew 28 and then all of a sudden he reveals to us that Christ is the king of the nations the king of all kings.

He is constantly Reminding us of this as we move through his gospel

It began in chapter 1 it continues here with these men Seeking This King there's another lesson that we see here.

There's another truth that we see portrayed for us here one that Jesus talked about in his earthly ministry where he talks about the fact that that he he he

That the people that the Jewish people should have known Who he was?

Because of what they had received in the past yet They did not and they refused to see we see here that these these men these

Magi had far less light all they had was this star in the east and Yet with only the star in the east

They responded the light was dim but it was the only light that they had and And they

Responded to that light if you'll notice the the

Jewish leaders They had far more revelation

This had been their entire History yet, they never moved

One scholar stated it that the Magi had much less knowledge of the true God than did the

Jewish leaders But what they knew of him what they being the Magi knew of him they believed

And they followed now.

There's a contrast here and It's a contrast that Christians have a trouble dealing with And it's one of those truths in Scripture that is very plain

But that is one that they will people will bark and bulk at and and buck at I'll get the right word out in a minute over and over and over and over and That truth is is that the same light

That when received leads into truth When rejected it hardens the heart

Go all the way back to our study through the book of Exodus When God said

I will harden the heart of Pharaoh But he also teaches us that Pharaoh hardened his own heart

And what we have here is a demonstration of the natural response of humanity who we are

But even when we are confronted, and we reject the heart becomes harder

What we see in Matthew chapter 2 is this coming into? stark focus

Look at verse 3 in Verse 3 we have that that when

Herod hears the question Here's his response He was troubled well

Herod is the king By right or by might here is the king

He is the one that has been proclaimed King. He is the one that is acting King He is the one that lives like a king and the mention of one who is king by birth threatens

Herod's position and So naturally as someone who has is power hungry and desires his position.

He feels threatened so he is obviously Troubled but notice that it's not just Herod.

That's troubled Notice that it says Herod was troubled and all

Jerusalem with him Now why would

Jerusalem be troubled Jerusalem was the city of promise

Jerusalem was the city that knew the scriptures. It was a city that had been waiting for the

Messiah It was a city that should have been Rejoicing yet at this question just like Herod Jerusalem Trembled why and it's because the coming

King will not leave sinners comfortable Why do people hate the name of Christ?

Because it creates discomfort People do not like to be uncomfortable How many of you enjoy being uncomfortable?

how many of you if you are in a situation where you were uncomfortable or looking for and To get out of the situation as fast as possible you start dancing around right you sitting in a seat

That's not comfortable. I was in a meeting last week and we literally sat for two and a half hours listening to this guy talk and Some of you are going well now, you know how we feel, but the reality was

The seat that I was in was uncomfortable And so I began to dance around and shift around and move around and I couldn't be still

And I wanted out why because I was uncomfortable Didn't have anything to do with what he was talking about it had to do with the seat

I was sitting in but the reality was I was uncomfortable This confrontation

Generates this Uncomfortableness if if a man is living for power if a man is living for control

Then Christ threatens that power right Christ threatens that control

If you're living for comfort Christ threatens the comfort Listen people are like well, that's just mean

Christ is not mean Christ is not cruel Our earthly idols are cruel

They're the things that are holding us back Pink wrote that if wise men fell down and worshipped

Christ when they saw him as a young child in the house What would it be?

to behold him in his unveiled Glory, what will it be that day when we stand before him?

Face to face seeing him as he truly is this truth cuts in two direction

For those of us that love him The reality that we will see him one day face to face with his glory unveiled it brings this sweet Relief and this desire to be there those that Oppose him it's a terrifying thought for those that pretend not to oppose him, but do truly do

Even though they don't think it's a terrifying thought than him because they will say things like well we just wink out of existence the problem now is they have no purpose and Having no purpose is terrifying and being terrified leads down a different path

Herod here responds as any man would do when his sovereignty is challenged

Man, if the sovereignty of you and your household is challenged by someone else

You feel the same way you feel threatened you you feel troubled You may plot

Herod plots Now he makes it look pretty but before Matthew shows us this plotting

He shows us something else we see these religious leaders we see

Herod gathering them verse 4 Herod gathers together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people and inquires of them where is

Christ to be born Now what you I want you to notice about the chief priests and scribes they knew the answer

They didn't hesitate. They didn't have to put their heads together Boom, they quoted the scripture and they read and you

Bethlehem land of Judah are by no means least among the leaders of Judah For out of you shall come forth a leader who will shepherd my people

Israel They said Bethlehem is where he is to be born a quote from Micah chapter 5

There's two things that we see here one Matthew is again connecting

Christ to the redemptive story It never ceases to amaze me.

And I know we bring it up often the way people approach by Trying to teach us that the

Old Testament in the New Testament aren't connected When continually God himself in his word reminds us that they are connected, but secondly

We see Jesus being connected to this story Bethlehem being connected to this story a small overlooked unimpressive little backwater town

Where David was raised up to be a shepherd king? now comes

David's greater son One commentator made an important observation noting that the ruler who will shepherd

God's people is not merely gentle, but he is Authoritative Shepherding includes ruling if you think about the task that a shepherd does

As he guides his sheep, he's got to be authoritative in this in the way that he directs them.

We don't want a shepherd Who commands we want one who comforts?

This is why it's easy to sell Jesus who makes all my problems go away this is why it's easy to sell a

Jesus who will give answer all of my wants and desires and creaturely comforts and why it's

Difficult for people to hear that he not just does those things, but he commands us and to move and to obey

Christ kingship is not less tender because he rules He's not less of a king because he's tender.

He does these things in a way that brings both of them in But the second piece of that the second piece of what we see here is

Probably the saddest point in this entire 12 verses We see these learned men

These men who knew the answer These men who when they were asked this question by Gentiles Seeking this truth should have been the first ones on the wagon to Bethlehem Never moved it is not a long way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem it is not days and days and days of journey in fact.

It's hours, but they were indifferent

These Magi Who had traveled from distant lands

Had traveled in a way that was costly It was difficult. It was challenging

Yet they came But the men who had the word Stayed where they were what a lesson what a lesson for us about this reality

That we can have orthodoxy Without orthopraxy we can have orthodoxy without obedience we can have knowledge without adoration

We can have we can have understanding without movement We can quote all of the verses and our heart be unaffected

This passage Calvin warns that this passage talks to us about the sluggishness

Toward the Word of God being a fearful thing Spurgeon pressed into the point that it is possible to know much about Christ without ever knowing him

Unshakingly and where other commentators said they knew the religious leaders and the scribes the chief priests they knew

But they didn't believe and their initial indifference would soon harden into outright

Hatred think of what you know of the chief priests and scribes as we move through the Gospels Here it's just a matter of that it's yeah,

Bethlehem. Yeah, I know you're looking for the king of Jews. We're not really interested till later it is

Crucify him Crucify him Crucify him the same

Sun that melts wax hardens clay unbelieving exposure to truth does not leave a person unchanged if They do not believe then the judgment is intensifies.

There are many who are like that There are many even today Who would profess to you to be

Christians? Who are filling the pews of churches? Who were gathering and proclaiming the name of Christ?

They know the text they know the stories they can quote you backwards and forwards, but they don't know

Christ they don't Have faith they have not laid hold of Christ the

King This passage is one of those passages.

It should should prick the heart pierce the heart of church people Because as we look at this passage right if we just take this passage

We don't take what we know of the the future of the Gospels, and we just look at this passage It's really clear really easy to pick out

Herod as the villain But all the church leaders and scribes did here was answer a question but the problem is

They just simply quietly ignored him I MacArthur says regarding this apathy that they demonstrate that this is indifference indifference to God which is simply hatred concealed and rejection delayed

It's a I'm not going to deal with it today I'm going to deal with it later I'm going to pretend

But I really hate failure to come to Christ is not a small matter

But then we see Herod secretly calling these

Magi Remember he gets with them here in verse 7

He says then Herod secretly called the Magi carefully determined from them the time that the star appeared

He wants to to know for sure, but then he he covers this knowledge

He covers this this inquiry with some religious language He says to them go search carefully for the child when you found him

Report it to me So I can go worship him too now.

We know that Because we know the gospel of Matthew because we know the history

That this is leading somewhere. This is leading to a massive slaughter. This is not leading to Herod worshiping or desiring to worship

This is the speech of a hypocrite This is the speech of one who says yes,

I yeah, I want to know I want to see I want to understand I want to hear but really doesn't for Herod.

It was the language of devotion while All the time he's planning the violence that we'll see in a couple of weeks

MacArthur notes that Herod concern here was not with the meaning of the sign Not with the meaning of this star that appears that has brought these men here to bring them to the point where they question

Where is he who was born king of the Jews? It is more about the age of the child who may threaten his throne you see that's the truth about disbelief and unbelief unbelief or disbelief

Generates itself in people where they have no true interest in seeing

The truth and hearing the truth except how it affects them

How does this impact me Let me let me give you an illustration from modern church history

Maybe help you a little bit with this understanding of why that distinction is important for years

We have quote unquote converted people out of fear The the method we use is get saved to avoid what hell

You better believe in Jesus so you don't go to hell Well, the old reason that they will tell you they believe is because they don't want to go to hell

But they don't want to obey They don't want to learn. They're not interested in the truth except to avoid the consequences of not knowing the truth this is bringing about quote unquote salvation based on emotional responses rather than true faith

The problem is is when you begin to press into true discipleship and It's an emotional response and not true faith it quickly falls apart

Wickedness clothes often cloaks itself in religious vocabulary Some men say worship what they really mean is control what they really mean is

I want to direct God in my life. I want him to show up and show out the way

I want him to the place I want him to at the time I want him to and How I want him to I'm not interested in him any other way

They say that they seek truth when they really mean is that they are looking to protect themselves here.

It's not just Resisting Christ he lies about resisting him

He colors it as something totally different Yet we know

From the text that this will not and cannot derail God's purpose the magic

I go on their way the star Appears again the star leads them to the place where the child is and Matthew says

That when they got there verse 9 and 10 and When and behold the star which stood in the east was going on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child

Was and when they saw the star star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy

Now any person reading this can see that there are some intense

Emotions Conveyed because we have these terms that are piled up notice notice how

Matthew words this rejoiced exceedingly and great joy all of these things putting together to give us this picture of this intensity the exhilaration to Emphasize the extent of their emotion these aren't men that are mildly interested but they have been brought to a place and as they come into the presence that I want you to Notice something here

Now after hearing the king they went away and behold the star which they had seen in the east was going on before them until it

Came and stood over the place where the child was and when they saw the star they rejoiced Exceedingly with great joy they haven't even seen the king yet But they've seen the star

They've seen the light. They've seen the direction and they're moving in that direction. They are not merely mildly

Interested they are over in overjoyed to be brought near to him

This is what happens in a sinner's life when he is truly Converted when

God truly brings a sinner to Christ. There's there's not just joy in discovery

But in this divine Confirmation that Christ is who he says he is

But the Word of God is true and that all things

Depend on him and and we have hope in him We have this understanding that the same

God Who awakened the desire? Completed the journey notice where these men began

They began far away, and they came near and Somewhere along the way as they came to Jerusalem the star obviously disappeared for a time

And so they came to Jerusalem and they inquired and in Jerusalem They gave got what they were given and then as they departed

Jerusalem the star reappeared to continue the direction Bring them to the completion of the place where the

Christ child was not possibly Not potentially but fully

Bringing them to where Christ was this is amazing

Not just from the truth of this happening but for us

This is providence that that is demonstrated in every means of grace that every line of Scripture every

Inward stirring of conviction has to end here at Christ and then we get to the center of the passage

They actually entered the house finally It took us from verse 1 to verse 11 before they ever entered into the actual presence of Christ But what we see when they enter the presence of Christ is nothing short of amazing notice what they say and after coming into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother and They said yea, and they turn and went on their way.

No. It says that they fell to the ground and worshipped him It it shows that they have this result

This is this is the response no don't miss the simplicity of this

Don't miss the force of this It's not as if they sat there for a little while they they asked

Mary a series of questions They chatted up Joseph. They got the whole lineage It's not like they had the first chapter of Matthew to go by they entered the presence of the king and they bowed down and worshipped

They responded Rightly, they didn't consult one another

They didn't stumble over the humility They didn't say well if this is the king.

Where's the court? They didn't say if this is the king. Why aren't why aren't we in a palace?

They came into the presence and they bowed in Worship Spurgeon captured the moment movement of this beautifully when he said that those who truly seek

Christ will find him Those who find him will fall before him in Adoration they had true side of Christ and true side of Christ resulted in true worship of Christ And what is the worship that we see demonstrated here

It is humble submission It is this

Reverent acknowledgement of his worth because as they bowed before this

Christ child as they came into the presence of the king as they

Submitted themselves to him They begin to lay these treasures at their feet

Now we can go a long way with the symbolism and the gifts that are given by the Magi We can see that a lot of things here that there's that there's not but but there is

Truth here Matthew Henry was very careful in his summary.

He he said that that it was gold as to a king Frankincense as to a

God and myrrh as to one Who should die?

Go with the gift of Kings Frankincense as you may remember was part of the the the the oil that was given by God to honor him in the temple and Myrrh was a spice used often to wrap the body of the dead in that day and time

What this gift plainly says to us is that these men did not come empty -handed

They came they bowed and They rendered honor to Christ with the very best that they have

Real worship Real worship still has that character.

It's not perfunctory It's not this minimal gesture of a heart that tries to remain untouched

It's not this thing that you do just because You feel like you're expected to do it it's not this thing that you do because you were raised in church

It's not this thing you do just because oh, that's the expectation. It's the thing that you do

Because your heart has been transformed first the worshiper bows

Then the treasures are opened. There's something there you see

Christ Isn't interested in our gifts Without ourselves

You can be the multi -millionaire Who donates millions and millions and millions of dollars to worthy causes they could even be churches they could even be for the purpose of Funding a quote -unquote mission in a third world country

But if you haven't submitted to the king then those gifts mean nothing

Don't get me wrong. They're accomplishing a good humanitarian effort They are doing quote -unquote good things in the world they may be feeding someone they may be providing medical assistance for someone they may be

Giving homes to someone they may be providing clean water to someone, but what good is water?

Today tomorrow and during this life when at the end of time you'll perish

What good is? bread without the bread of life Magi had less light, but they came farther the scribes had more light, but they stayed put what was the difference?

It certainly wasn't knowledge The scribes the chief priests they had the knowledge they had the information the

Magi had grace the Magi knew little but what they knew

They believed and what they believed they followed the scribes had a lot

But they neither believed nor followed what they had This is to be a test in our life.

Do you want to know how well you're hearing God's word? It's not about how much data you can collect

It's about that data and that understanding and that knowledge moving us towards Christ in faith in obedience and in worship

Are you transformed? Matthew closes by telling us here that the

Magi were worn in a dream not to return to Herod and so they departed for their Own country by another way

God protected the child the child that he had told us about Way back in the

Old Testament the king that had been promised That has been now brought in that lineage that he is protected all the way here

God continues to project protect. He frustrated the tyrant It's interesting if you study the language if you go all the way back up to the first verse of chapter 2 and you see

Where it talks about kid Herod the king that word king is a different word than the king that's used for Jesus See the king that's used for Jesus is really a king the word that's used for Herod here is really talking about a tyrant an entirely different type of ruler of King So where does that leave us it leaves us with three responses?

It leaves us with the three responses to Christ. It leaves us three responses to this understanding

We see this great theme that is under Girding all of this and that is the sovereignty of God that regardless of what

Herod does God controls regardless of the schemes of man God controls regardless of what happens

God controls the scribes know the text They don't set the outcome the Magi are Travel, but they aren't self -directed these men didn't just happen up along this path.

They were moved Above beneath through all of this chapter. We see the hand of God We see it revealing we see it guiding we see a warning we see it protecting we see it fulfilling all of these things are here

Taking us to these three responses the first of which is hostility Herod demonstrates that hostility

That's the response of the heart that sees Christ as a threat the heart that is filled with hatred

That's an easy one to pick out by the way Most of us can come into contact with someone we can very quickly identify

If this is a person who hates Christ most of the time they're willing to tell you that I don't believe in God They'll phrase it a little differently.

I don't believe in God. I have no use for God all of these things That's the easy one to deal with The difficult one for me at least is the second one because it's the the way that the chief priests and scribes

Respond that indifference that response that can handle religious truth so long as it never actually

Confronts me So no long so long as it never requires

Transformation from me so long as it leaves me be or is better for me in some way it helps me then we have the third and That is the

Magi showing us The right response of the heart a heart that has been awakened by grace a heart that has been brought to Christ That bows in worship

John MacArthur summarized this passage by saying that these are The three typical responses men have made throughout history

Some like Herod are hateful Others like the Magi believe obey and worship and all too many like the scribes and the priests

Pay little attention Problem is is this is not common commentary on ancient history.

This is the the heart This is the exposure of every heart in this place today

And the question is which response is yours is yours one of outright hatred

You just absolutely refuse to believe the things of God have no use for God. No desire for God. No, no, no

No thing because it hasn't God hasn't brought you to where you think you ought to be. He's not giving you anything

He's not been fair to you. He's not done this for you. He's not done that for you. Does it?

Are you the one who? Is just negligent you've heard you you've been told you've seen you just have no response

You have no time. You you don't want to be confronted. You don't want to be transformed. You don't want to be changed and so the ultimately

The issue that remains the issue that we are confronted with is the same issue

We have been confronted with for the last two weeks and that is what will you do with Christ?

Will you resist him? Because his kingship threatens your self -rule.

I'm my own man. I'm my own woman I don't need anybody to tell me what to do. I don't need some

Jesus in my life Commanding me so that I have to be obedient. I don't need anything like that.

I don't need to change I'm okay. Just the way I am will you ignore him because Religion without submission feel safe.

I'll come to church I'll sing the songs. I'll write my check.

I'll go on mission trips. I'll teach a Sunday school class But I won't truly believe

I'll just live my life Or will you bow? You see the wonder of the gospel is that the king is not only worthy of worship.

He is also the savior of sinners He is the one before whom the Magi fell and he is the same one who would grow

He would obey He would suffer He would die He would rise again all to save those who by faith come to him

All those who trusted him This ruler shepherd that is identified for us in verse 6 here

For out of you shall come forth a leader who will shepherd my people That ruler shepherd is willing and did lay down his life for his sheep

You see he didn't just come to demand allegiance. He didn't come to be a tyrant. He came to redeem rebels and make them willing in the day of his power so there is an urgency and There is a graciousness to the call of this passage

The call is come to Christ It's interesting how as we study the

Word of God, that's the call right? literally Genesis the Revelation the call come to Christ as you study the word come to Christ Don't stand with Herod in this secret hostility

Don't stand with the scribes in this informed indifference come with the

Magi seek him find him and Fall down before him

This Account here is not this Charming story just to tell at Christmastime of these three men who come from afar with gifts

It's a revelation of the King it's a disclosure of the human heart it's that this

King has come He has come the nation's will begin to gather

The tyrant will tremble the scholars remain still the worshipers bow, but over all of this

God reigns Christ is the dividing line.

He troubles false kings. He exposes empty religion He receives worship from those

For from those whom grace draws near so when confronted with the true

King will you oppose him? Will you ignore him or?

Will you worship him may God grant that we would all respond as the

Magi did with joy with humility and with worship

Let's pray our most holy and heavenly

Father Or we thank you for the glory of Christ that is revealed to us in your word

Or we praise you that in the fullness of time you sent the promised King into the world to save sinners

To establish his everlasting kingdom Lord our prayer is that you guard our hearts from the hostility of Herod From the indifference of the scribes that you give us instead the humble faith of the

Magi who sought Christ Who found Christ and who fell before Christ in worship or teach us to treasure

Christ above all things Teach us to bow gladly before his rule teach us to trust

Christ not only a Savior But to submit to him as King That our lives would bear witness that Jesus Christ is worthy of all honor all obedience all devotion and all praise